Tribe opening bigger, better clinic

WORK CONTINUES on the new Community Health Clinic on the Shingle Springs Rancheria. The facility is due to open on Oct. 3. Village Life photo by Pat Dollins

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians recently announced Oct. 3 as the opening date for the all new Community Health Clinic, located adjacent to Red Hawk Casino at Red Hawk Parkway.

The new 60,000-square-foot clinic, which includes two floors of parking, replaces the existing 17,000-square-foot facility located on Mother Lode Drive in Shingle Springs. Complete with three floors of medical, dental and administrative offices, it will continue to provide all aspects of ambulatory medical care with expanded services including family practice, pediatrics, orthopedic, physical therapy, podiatry, chiropractic, dentistry, orthodontics and mental health along with pain management via telemedicine.

The current clinic had 20,000 patient visits in 2010 and with the opening of the new expanded facility that number is expected to increase by at least 20 percent.

The Community Health Clinic will be open Monday through Friday and offers appointment and walk in services from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. The original Community Health Clinic has been in operation since 1995 and is available for everyone in need of care. From home visits to a diabetes program that includes an outreach to closely monitor patients, the Community Health Clinic provides much needed services to tribal members and residents of El Dorado County.

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians is dedicated to providing the best medical and dental options to all Native Americans and their families, county residents and Medicaid and MediCal patients. In addition to Medicaid and MediCal, the clinic accepts the County Medical Services Program (CMSP) as well as all PPO insurances. The Community Health Clinic also offers an outreach program to assist patients with applying for MediCal and care for uninsured patients with fees based on a sliding scale.

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians is committed to providing quality patient care that is sensitive to individual, family, community and cultural needs. As part of their commitment to the community and El Dorado County, the tribe plans to open another medical facility in Diamond Springs, as well as a dental clinic in South Lake Tahoe that is the first of its kind offering dental services to Medicaid and MediCal recipients there. In the past these patients from the Lake Tahoe region were forced to drive to Shingle Springs for treatment, often delaying or even not completing much need treatments for themselves and their children.

“Our vision for the Tribal Health Clinic is to provide comprehensive and state-of-the-art medical and dental services to tribal members and community residents,” said Beth Ann Bodi, executive director of the Shingle Springs Tribal Health Clinic. “These patients would otherwise delay or not seek treatment because of cost or location. We’re devoted to this community and are extremely pleased to be able to contribute in this way.”